I learned about Detroit Future City’s Field Guide and Mini Grant Program through the pictures on the wall in the office during my first week of work. I knew that the Field Guide was designed to help Detroiters design their vacant lots and the Mini Grant Program provides 6500 dollars for a project team to implement their lot designs. However, I never bothered to wonder why there are so many vacant lots in Detroit, think about why DFC encourages people to transform vacant lots into different styles of community gardens and truly understand the relationship between the work DFC has been doing and the city outside of the office.

This week, I went to visit the second year grantees of the Mini Grant Program with the program leader. Because of this trip, I came to know about the origins of all those scattered vacant lands in Detroit. As the population moved out of the city, many houses were abandoned and demolished, which created vacant lands, and places for dumping in the community. While the government tried to relocate people and make scattered vacant lands into a bigger vacant land, which is easier for redevelopment, Detroit people were unwilling to move and preferred to stay where they lived. That’s why instead of developing a larger vacant land, DFC encourages people to take advantage of small vacant lands by making it a beautiful garden and a cozy place for community gatherings. Besides the whole history behind it, I was also deeply impressed by the design of these lots. Not only do they have trees and bushes, they also provide tables and chairs for people in the community to gather together and maybe have barbecue. Some of them even have devices to help alleviate storm water problems. After listening to the stories behind each lot design, I feel deeply impressed by the determination of these block club/community development organizations.

In the past month, I thought I have worked hard to understand what my partner organization has been doing, but I didn’t realize its real influence until actually visiting those lots. I feel really glad that I had the chance to see the products of Field Guide and Mini Grant Program and genuinely reflect on this social problem existing in this city. While grantees just sowed seeds into the ground this spring, I couldn’t wait for these lots to thrive in different parts of the city.